Portable folding bed



Nov. 11, 1930. E. cocKs 1,781,439 7 PORTABLE FOLDING BED Filed May 22, 1926 V Patented Nov. 11, 1930 1 m are EDGAR oooxs, oF' os ANGELES, CA IFOR IA, ASSIGNQR 'ro LOS ANGELES WALL BED a, COMPANY? onLos ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A oonrona'rron or CALIFORNIA.

ronrannn FOLDING ED Application filed May as, 1926. Serial Nd. 110,841.

a a This inventionrelates in a general Way to ibed' constructions, and more specifically to folding beds, of the portablety'pe, adapted to be stored-,when not in use, withina closet or recessand moved therefrom; into a-room for use. Thistypeof bed is commonly termed a recess bed; the'particular objects to beattained being compactness and mobility.

The-invention herein shown and described m is somewhat similar to my inventions shown the instant case differs fromthe former, however,'rin certain specific details relating to the operation of the auxiliary leg andthe means for preventing movement of the bed frame while the auxiliary leg is'inifolded or 20 inoperative position. i i

i The essential elements of a bed of this charaforementioned copending applications Ser. Nos. 72,869 and'72,870,has been conceived andperfected; my general object in each instancebeingto provide a simple andcompact acterinclude a base, movably supported'upon rollers, and a bed frame'pivotally mounted on the baseto swing ihfia vertical plane;

bei'ngfdisposed in'vertical position on the base. for storage or horizontally for use. When in-horlzontal positlon the frame overhangs one side; the base servmg as a support for one end, the opposite end being supporta0 ed onfolding legs (not shown) f In order that-the entirestructure may oc cupy a minimum ofstorage space and be1novable through standard width doors, the base is as small and compact as is permissible, consistent with its functional requirements; and tominimize the physical effort necessary to lower and raisethe bedframe, balanceor tension springs are provided betweenthe inner swinging end of the frame and thebase. These are of a strength sufficient to normally hold the frame in itsvertically disposedipo sition, but weak enough to be overcome by its unbalanced weighn to a certain extent, when @itismoved towards the horizontal position tlforuse. The bed frame is pivotally support; ed adjacent one of its ends onuthe b&S6,"%LIlCl when the usual amountofloedding is placed thereon, its unbalanced weight is considerable. Consequently, the balance springs meet ha a ens d wbleten le .i r sthti frame is'in its horizontal positiomand as this tension is increasing as the frameis being moved to illllSPOSlillOllfI'OIll the vertlcal, its tendency is to tip the base 111 the same'dlrec- .tionthe frame is being moved and this tendency isiincreased by the shifting of the center of gravity ,ofthe entirestructure relative to the base. a In order to counteract this tendency, either a a vgreat deal of undesirable weight must be added to theibase, or itmust be madeof a plan area so large-that it can not beconveniently stored in comparatively small recessesflor passed through standard width doors. a i

In view of I of thexinstant case,;as well as those ofimy s PATENT OFFICE order to minimize thephysicalcfiort rethese conditions, the invention ,3

base structure, having one or more movable "the balancesprings to the point of requiring excessive physicalefl'ort in ing the bed frame. 1 i i As in my aforementioned co-pending application, Ser. No. 72,870, the present improvement isgenerally directed to means to preventmovement of the bed frame from the vertical towards the, horizontal until the raising or lowerfoldable auxiliary leg is moved to its extendrlipesitien, therebyreweries PQ S b l PY of v as v oversight and resulting in injury to the operator. I also provide a suitable latching arrangement to prevent accidental movement of the auxiliary leg from its extendedrpositioni towards its folded position, such as ig tl e done by it c c ing :O i e dg of arugiorthe like when thez'bed islmovedl.

i Theparticular distinction between the .im: proveme tspi thein tant eas thos o m w s ati on.S -"N -Wfi ji 'th i h s 7 case a; diii'erentmurvature' and upward tilt is given to the locking arm to an extentsufii p ition. v, a

' The. ri disposition ofzthe locking arm is also such thatwvwhen .the "bed franie is ra-ised towards-the avertica'l to iextentitolpermit conthe a 'izri liaryrleg, this arm will engage the lock :pinonthe be'd 'trameand foree the frame tlralw-n inwardlyito told-ed position.

' auxiliary leg' i n eithereritended' orpartially extended'positlon. ,This provides'iinia great base "by-the unibalanced weight of itli 1 frame thereon whenfthe frameis pulled down to; wards the horizontal andibefore'theauxiliary I fleg'ihas been moved to-its fully extended po- V Ysition;

' 7' H E i s of improvement are more ful ly set torthfin the following specification,

reference being made therein to the; accompajny'i ng drawings, wherein, I- have illustrated-my preferred specificembodiment.

Inthese drawings: V A

; ailaf agii snt y iron? v at n o v my 1 t ttit iea" rat ngth ib dfr m :5 i a V a all n 'ts'ztledpsieg ;"j g-j2'isaset tional plan vi k n aszin} (l-R t d: by 1 l ne21% o Fig-,

sat vi w-tak n a indi ted by th Liber of Ere-- lishesiingithe i-ary leg infolded position; a J 54 ,is .21 detailed fiVylBCW similar to Fig. 3;

s-itieng V r ia. fr n'meritary', detaileda s fiy u e mesgs rrii asassas inateseam venient access atoflt'he lock re'leasing means on y to a Nertical position as the auxiliary leg is. -ao V Q,

' A further {fe a'ture of :the PIGSGIIUlH-YQIIDIOII s the provision of means-tor latching the ly sinip l i fied structure, means for preventing f a collapsrbil-ityotthe auxiliary leg-towards the 1 illustrating-the aue'g'ilianyleg i n se itended potion, illustrating vertical movement of the i i 7 bed frame.

Referringfirst to Figs. 1 and 2, the

meral l0 designates generallya base movably supported upon a plurality of rollers, 11-. The base is ;composed :Oif'kfizlQLl-fitfi iend; members .12, a rear transverse brace. member 13' and a front transverse brace member 14'.

he esdmembersw arevma aren -tam l ta m ement of hebas intb an lo of "small recesses; such as closets and through doors ot substantially standard widths. The

rollers "ll'ma-y be rigid or of the; caster type. a

r g d y s pp p the baselO adjacent the forward ends of the a s end members 12 vanduprights 16 iaremounted Lil-pen the rear ends of ;these lmGHEber-s, which,

v are suitably joined .to form theshead of the bed. .[A ebed i f-rame 1 7,warryingnsuitable springs 1-8, is pivotally mounted upon the standards 15,:tl1roughikthelinedium" of .pi-vot pins I 19- carried by the ilatteri As illustrated 'in Eig. 13"spivotalficonneo :tionsxbetween thestandands "1 5 and frame 17V are adjacent the head end .of the rfirame, so that the head end overhang issubstantial lyequal ato the height Off the standards above the base (10. .Brace membersfl-Qlmaey ibe 'eproi vided between the standards i1 5andup ri hts 1'6ilending'rigidityxto theibLiseistruatt re: i A plurality;offcontraetrle, ihelicalQ-springs' 21 are-each Connected ati'one endpto-agtrania I Nersely disposed braee member-"2:2, iearriediby the isidei iframe members 17 and "at .tlieirioppo I p site ends to the transverse Ebas'e :niember' =14 otthefzbaseil d Thesespningsilihaveztermed 1 W s iba lanoe springs ffor ihe'reason thatzthey .areiprovidedatonormally holdthe 'bed :trame V :1z7iinitsvertically disp osedpositi'on; as :i'lluss trated in Fig.il} and 21:0 Jnin-i-miZe'Kthe iphysieal .eti-ort mequi r'edteiraise ahddoweriuhisffram upon {the these 10,.

etween 'iits vertical and horizontal- 'pOSflilQnS' illustratedn x l h :1 springs may bezproxudedaomhtamthedesrred i cushion ngefteetganditheiritensilestrength is arranged in ;aaccordanee w1th the sizegotthe bed, :theQwei ght fof thel .tr-a'm springsjl'8 andthe;usual: a;n1ount trbeddin'g. I I

v p An auxiliaryileQFQB preferahlyformedgo-f converging ,arzns Qt tandi 25;:is -pivotally mountebliupon :the base 10 the arm 25,? beii11g V pivotally j oined #to; a: plate 526, by means iet pin 27, andthe armQlikewise joined: to-

. plate '28 by meairs loi 1aiv tpin 29., P-la'te I idle-grammatically f i Any number 1, (YfillhGSQ 1 26 is earriedibyfia itransvemesbrace a'member L plate 28 6s ca'rrie'd' strated in "tree ot-th 30, sup-ported'betweenstandards llfi sand"; J y'ithe -transverse :bra'cej member 114: iand 29 {a necessarily] isa-js'ilted o raisef'the swin ingrend ofextended position. If desired, 1 a suitable roller or casterwheel 31 may be provided on the outer leg 2-3. To form a rigid structure a brace rod 32 joins the divergent ends of the arms 24 and 25. i i y A contractile helical spring 33 is secured at one end to a member 34, supportedon one flange of the transverse brace member 14, and at its opposite endto the arm 24-of leg 23, adjacent to and forward of its pivot pin 29. This spring is disposed (see Figs. 2, 3 and 4) on one side of pivotal axis of the leg 23, and is always under tensionto move the auxiliary leg 23 from its extended position, as illus trated in Fig. 4, to its folded position as illus trated in Fig. 3, and to always normally hold the leg in folded position. While the tensile strength of the spring 33 is sutficient-to hold the leg 23 in folded position, or to move it to that positionfrom its extended position,it is not ofsuflicient strengthtogreatly interfere with'its manual movement outwardlyto its extended position. 4 An arcuate arm 35 is'rigidly mounted on andfcarried by arm 24, of leg 23, to swing concentrically around -the axis of pivot pin '29; being rigidlybraced by means of amember 36. Uponmovement of the leg 23, from the position illustrated in Fig.3 to that shown in Fig; 4, and vice versa, the arm will. travel around the pin 29 as a center. 1 i

A downwardly extending pin 37 iscarried by a-plate 38 seoured'to'the head end frame member 17 and is so. arranged that when the bed frame 17 :is in its verticallydisposed position,.as illustratedin dot-dash lines in 6, it will extend at right/angles to the plane of movementof the arcuate arm 35. This is clearly illustrated. in Fig. 3. It is also positioned to traverse an arc in a vertical plane substantially online with theauxiliary leg 23 when it is. in extended position;

as illustratedin solid and dotted lines in l,-and when in the position illustrated in Fig.3 to be encircled by the arcuatearm 35 when the leg 23 is in its folded-position 1 By this a rrangement thebed frame 17 prevented from being tilted outwardly as illustrated diagrammaticallyin Fig. (3,until the auxiliary leg23 is moved from the folded position, illustrated in Fig. 3 to its extended position, asillustrat'edinFig. 4; the length of thaarm 35 beingsuch that the cannot pass. itsend 39.fu ntil the leg 23 has reached its fully'extendedposition as illustratedinlFigA. y i

The curvatureioftheend of the arm 35 from the point indicatedby the line X in Figs. 3 and 4; (whichistlie'point at which the pin 37 is at rest when the auxiliary leg 23 is in folded position). "is suchas to. effect the most efiicient. Cit-111; action between-these ele ments when the arm 35 iswbrought into en-.

gagement with theVpin 37 and beforethe frame 17 has been .moved'fully to its vertical pin 37 y position on thebase. The end of the arm 35 is also bent upwardly from the point X shown in Fig. 3 to its outer end, to insure engagement of the pin 37 by this end in case the leg 23 is moved towards its folded position before the bed-frame 17 is moved to its final vertical position. i As the extreme end 39 of arm 35 is positioned to effect engagement with or. aroundthe rear of pin 37, at substantially the point where the bed frame is just passingfrom. its balanced position on the baseto its unbalanced position during outward movement, andvice-versa, the function of the arm 35 is to insure full outward movement of the leg 23 before the bed frame 17 can be pulled down to unbalanced position and to insure full upward movement of the bed frame. to the vertical, before it can be'moved to folded position. i 1

As may be later explained, the position of thelatching means for holding the leg 23 in an extended position is suchthat it cannot be reached for releasement, to permit folding of the auxiliary leg;untilthe bed frame 17 has been moved within thezoneof its balanced position on the base, as substantially to the vertical. In other words, the leg 23 cannot be collapsed'when the bed frame is atan angle, relative to thebase, to be in unbalanced or unsafe position. i This, of course, takes into consideration inaccessibilityof the lock latchflfor manipulationtuntil the bed frame 17is nearing its balanced position on the base, this matter beingtaken into considerationin determining the length, curvature and; upward tilt of the end 'of the. arm 35. Thus the curvature of arm 35. is such that it will move substantially eccentric to the pin; 37 when the latter is in the position.

illustrated in Fig. 3. q i

The above describedarrangement also obviates possibility of the leg 23 being closed to folded position before the pin .37 is within the zone of movement of the arm 35, and when IEhe framej17 is in unbalanced position on the ase. i As hereinbefore stated, the auxiliary leg 23 is held normally'in folded positionyas illustrated in Fig. 3, and moved t-o that po'- sition', from the positioneillustrated in Fig. 4, by the action of spring 33. The leg 23 is held. outwardly ineither extended or in termediately extended position by means of leg 23;.a'nd is arranged to be engaged by the foot to tilt the opposite, end of the bar up weirdly-against its weight. The end- 43 of the ba r 4O extends through an aperture in-a plate 4oj' d'epending from the transverse braeemember l i, as illustrated in Fig. 5.

r The-aperture -44 isiof*a sizeto permit certain freedomofmovement of the bar therein to allow for the" arcuate movement of its opp'osite pivotec l end:

. Thelower edge :01? the end 43 is serrated as at 46;;the-serrations being:arranged to engz'ige theplate lfiat the lower end of the slot 44 to hold theleg V 23 outwardly against'the v always-1 i n engagement with the lower end of the s'lot 44diie to the weight of the end 43. As the leg. 23* is adapted: to he moved 7 froin'the position illustrated' in Fig. 4 to that shown' in Fig 3 by the-"foot, it issometimes necessary to shift the bod'y inelfe-cting-its full outward movement?Consequently, when pressure is re'lieved on-'theleg:23 to shift the body enga em nt of-the bar"4O with plate :45 will prevent its collapsing: the I action ofthe spring, 331; As armmay'be'iarranged to permit thebedframefl to be ulled down 'encyio'fthe operatonto release or attemptto w'ardly to approximately the limit of its balanced position on'thefbase, before the leg23 is moved to the limitfiof' its outward'position', and when the-bedfra'meis'in thi-sposition only: aslighti additional pull thereon may be necessary P w overba'lance the entire structure, i t is important to provi'de thelocking means =jas thebar 46; to prevent collapsibility of *thelegif it' happens to be inan intermediat position; "This is also true whenft'hetea vertical po si on,;as it has been proved by ex-i perience that in some cases there'is a tend-- move the'leg 23 inwardlyto its folde'dpositioii gbefoife the bed frame has been moved to he limit o'f its verticalf position; C onseqaentl'yg; I V have P provided the arctiate arm of V the form and length shown; and have also 1 provided lock -bai' "'position'e adjacent the axis of the leg 23, making this inconvenient to tivelysafe handling oftlie structure,- 1 g p Havi-ngdescribed'my"invention, I'claini r T 1.- A folding'bed;comprising a base, a bed bereachedunti'lgthebedgis substantially'its balancedfl positfion, thus insurin comp ara;

frame pivota lly mounted on the base to swing i vertically there m and over hangthe base :rhein g' raised from the "horizontal to a folded position and'catch means" to hold it in extended-position against the action of the yielding means, said' catchmeans comprising a latch plate on the base, a latch'bar pivotal ly mounted adjacent one end on the leg, the opposite end of said bar arranged to engage the plate and the bar being serrated along one edge'to engage theplate and releasably hold the leg against the action of the yielding 2. Afolding bed, comprising'a base, a bed frame pivotally mounted on the base toswing vertically thereon, "and overhang the base whenin horizontal position, an auxiliary leg pivotallymounte-d on the base and arranged to swing horizontally thereon from folded positionlongitudinally of the base to'extende ed position" transversely of the base and beneaththe overhanging portiofl'of the bed frame, meansto yieldingly hold the leg in folded position and catch meansto hold itin extended position against the action ofthe yielding means, saidcatch meanscomprising a latch plate on the base, alatch bar pivotallymounted adjacent one end on the leg to permit vertical and horizontal movement and adapted to engage the" plate along one edge, the plateengaging edge being serrated to hold the leg against theaction of theyielding means, the, bar being ex'tended beyond its pivoted end} to provide a toe plate fortilt: ing it toefi'ect its disengagement from the platen e f v 3. A folding bed, comprising a base memher, a bed frame pivotallymountedionthe base to swingverticallythereon and overi an auxiliary leg m emberpivotally mounted on the, base and arranged to swing horizonhang the base when in horizontal position,

tally thereon from folded position-longitudinally of the baseto extend position transversely of thebase and beneath the overhangin'g'portion of'thebed'frame, means toyieldingly hold thejle'g in folded position and catch means to hold it in extended position catch meanscomprising a latch plate on one of said members ,.a.lat'ch bar pivotally mountagainst-the action of the yielding-means,"said' ed adj acentoneiendon the other of'said mem- I V hers, the opposite end of said bar being serrated along-"one edge-and'arranged to releasablyfengage the plate to l hold'the leg against 'the actionof itheyiel'ding means. In witness "that? I claim the'foregoing I" day 9 A ril; 1926' havehereunto subscribedmy namefthis o 

